With Those Dreams of a Better Day
by RyanGosling4Ever
Summary: CH. 12 IS UP! :) Rating's for later chapters, which is not up yet. Wanda remembers her childhood with her brother in their innocent once-upon-a-time years. But things can never be the same again... or can they? After HexFactor, before DoR
1. Default Chapter

"Pietro, wook!" Little four-year-old Wanda Maximoff shouted gleefully, running toward her brother as fast as her little legs could carry her. Her hands were cupped around something, and there was a broad smile on her face.  
  
"What?" Pietro asked, curiously turning to the dark haired girl from where he'd been happily making a mud pie in the ground.  
  
"A wady-bug!" Wanda said happily, opening her hands and revealing a beautiful red ladybug with black spots. Sensing freedom from it's prison, it gave a sudden quick flap of it's tiny wings and was gone.  
  
"Oh, it flew away!" Wanda said sadly, watching the ladybug fly up and away. Then, turning to Pietro, Wanda looked with interest at the brown glob of muddy mess that was in front of them. "Whatcha doin'?" she asked, plopping down on the ground next to the little equally-young white haired boy.  
  
"Makin' a mud castle!" Pietro grinned a little-kid's gap toothed grin at his sister. "Wanna help?"  
  
"Yeah!" Wanda clapped her hands together and happily joined Pietro on the ground mushing up the mud. Their final production looked more like a lopsided cow than a beautiful castle, but to the twins, who were giggling over their own private joke on the ground, it was the most beautiful structure in creation.  
  
"Pietro! Wanda! Time for lunch!" their mother called from the house.  
  
"Aww, Mommy, can't we stay out here a little longer?" whined Pietro in a pleading tone. "I gotta show Wand somethin' cool!"  
  
Their mother hesitated, then nodded and smiled. "Five minutes. But that's it. No more, you hear me?"  
  
"Yes Mommy," both kids chorused at the same time, then turned and grinned at each other.  
  
"I wonder when Daddy's gonna get home?" Wanda wondered as she patted down on the mud, forming the "balcony" of the castle.  
  
Pietro shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "But look! This is gonna be the cool part!" With an excited grin, he ran to the garden hose and turning on the water, ran back. "Watch this!" he said, as he started to spray the castle with water.  
  
"Pietro!" the little girl shrieked, jumping up and trying to stop her insane brother from destroying their lovely castle. "What are you doing?!"  
  
"But Wanda, this is the cool part!" Pietro insisted, trying to fend off his attacking sister. "Look!" But by yanking on the water hose to keep it away from Wanda, Pietro accidently yanked it upward too hard and it thoroughly drenched Wanda. For a second, both kids stood there, Wanda dripping wet. Then a little smile crept on the little girl's face, and she started giggling. "Oh yeah?" she asked, pouncing on Pietro and yanking the water hose the other way, spraying him in the face with it.  
  
"Hey-!" Pietro sputtered, then started laughing, as the two siblings started a full-fledge water war.  
  
"Pietro!!" a loud voice boomed from out of nowhere, and both kids dropped the garden hose in surprise.  
  
"Daddy!" 


	2. Pinky Promise

Erik Magnus stormed into the house, with the kids in tow.   
  
"But Daddy, I-"  
  
"That's enough, Wanda!" Erik roared. He turned on the little girl. "Look at you! You're filthy! No children of mine are going to grow up playing in the MUD! Now go change right this instant!"  
  
Wanda's bottom lip quivered and she ran from the room. Pietro stared after her, then looked up at his daddy, a confused scowl on his face.  
  
"You too, Pietro." Erik's voice was hard. "Go wash up. Then come down for lunch. But I want you and your sister spotless, you hear me?"  
  
Without a word, Pietro turned and trudged upstairs.  
  
"Answer me when I ask you a question, son!" Erik barked.  
  
"Yes Daddy," was the tiny reply.  
  
Erik paced furiously around the kitchen. "They'll never amount to anything, those two!" he fumed. "Mud pies!"  
  
There was a loud BANG. Magda, their mother, had slammed the pan down on the stove. She couldn't take this anymore. "Oh for heaven's sake, Erik, they're just CHILDREN!" she hissed, exasperated.  
  
"Oh yes... they're just children," Erik repeated sweetly, heavy sarcasm dripping from every syllable. "When I was a child, I watched my family DIE in Auschwitz, Magda! Pietro and Wanda are living too easily right now! Way too easily! They need to toughen up!"  
  
"THEY'RE FOUR-YEAR-OLDS!!" Magda screamed at him. "What do you expect them to know at this age in their lives about what you're doing?!"  
  
"I won't have you talk to me like that." Erik said quietly.  
  
"Then what makes you think I'll let you talk to the kids like that?"  
  
There was a SLAP and Magda's head snapped around. Peeking through the pantry door, Wanda gave a little cry and a whimper. "Mo-!" Terrified, Pietro quickly clapped a hand over his sister's mouth, muffling the rest.  
  
"Hush up, he'll hear us!" Pietro whispered. Terrified, the two kids sat there, frozen in place as they watched the scene unfolding before them, not daring to say anything. Wanda started trembling violently and gave another involuntary whimper.  
  
"But what about-?"  
  
"Shhh!" The little boy whispered again. "C'mon, we gotta go back upstairs, we're supposed ta be washin' for lunch!"  
  
Wanda glanced one more time at the frightening argument in the kitchen, then nodded. Getting up slowly, the two sneaked their way back upstairs through an alternate staircase connecting the back of the pantry to the upstairs floor. Safely in their room that the twins shared, Wanda sat down on the bed.  
  
"What do you think Daddy was talking about?" she whispered.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Pietro?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why does Daddy hate me so much?"  
  
Pietro stared at Wanda, not knowing what to say. "He doesn't hate you, Wand," he whispered.  
  
"Yes he does," Wanda sniffed. "I'm always the first to get blamed on! It's always Wanda this, and Wanda that! Why?" she wailed, forgetting that they were supposed to be quiet.  
  
"Shh!.." The little white haired boy tried to comfort his sister as best as he could. "Don't cry, Wand," he pleaded, his own clear blue eyes starting to well up with tears too. "Please don't cry!"  
  
The two sat in an embrace for a long time. Finally, after the tears had dried and the hiccups were gone, Wanda sighed.  
  
"Pietro?" she asked in a tiny voice.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're always gonna be together right? And best friends for forever and ever and ever."  
  
"Best friends for forever and ever and ever."  
  
"Pinky promise?" Wanda stuck out her pinky.  
  
"Pinky promise." 


	3. Nothing But A Dream

"AAAURGH!!" Wanda Maximoff gasped, uttering a strangled, almost inhuman cry. Struggling to sit up, she realized that she was still in the institution. The cold cell which she had been forced to call her home for the last seven years vibrated iciness, and it was still dark outside. She was alone. There was no ladybug. No waterfights. No mudpies. Wanda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no Pietro. She hadn't seen her brother in years. Seven long miserable years, in fact. She had changed a lot over the years, the dark years. She was no longer the chubby four-year-old toddler that she was, but a tall sixteen year old, with shoulder length dark hair and angry scowling eyes. They burned with years of unshed tears, but Wanda refused to give in to the overwhelming desire to cry. According to her father, "It's such a sign of weakness, even from a girl." Weakness was something her father had never been able to tolerate. Wanda wanted to cry, but didn't. Years of painful experience at the expense of showing her innermost emotions had trained her to hold it in. *Besides*, she noted with bitter anger, *the last time I showed "my weakness", Father left me here in this miserable dump.* Pietro had abandoned her too. *No, I won't cry!* Instead, she got up and walked over to the tiny window in her "room", staring out into the early morning light with unblinking expressionless eyes. She hadn't cried for years, not since *that* night.  
  
*"Daddy! Don't leave me! Father! Father!!" the little girl screamed, her tears and the pouring rain mingling as it streamed down her cheeks. But her pleas fell on deaf ears, and the last thing she remembered of her family as she was dragged into the institution was them getting into the car and driving away.*  
  
"Why didn't you DO anything, Pietro?!" Wanda suddenly shrieked, attacking the walls furiously, pounding on it. "Why did you just STAND there and let it happen?! Oh, now I remember!" Wanda thought sarcastically, her eyes narrowing into paper-thin slits. "Father wanted this, didn't he? And so you went along with it too." With a simple arcane gesture with her fingers, she caused a tree in the distance to burst into flames. Suddenly the door behind her hissed open and Wanda whirled around, instinctively flinging out her arms, creating a protective hex sphere around her, with the odds all literally on her side.  
  
"There is no need to show me what you are. I already know," a cold voice drawled. It belonged to a security guard, who had been sent to fetch Wanda for her daily "tests".  
  
"What do you want?" Wanda spat, the crimson scarlet aura around her glowing brighter. Overhead, a light bulb exploded, and huge cracks appeared on the walls.  
  
"Time for your tests, girlie-"  
  
"Don't CALL me that!!" Scarlet energy shot out from Wanda's fingertips and struck the guard. His eyes bulged in surprise, then he started twitching uncontrollably. Her mutant hex had struck his nervous system, triggering an epileptic seizure. The young girl stared at the guard for a second, eyed the open door, glanced back at the guard who was still twitching on the ground, then ran for the door. Outside, she ran blindly through the corridor, not knowing which way led to out. It was like being stuck in a huge rat maze, with experimentors watching and recording her every move. The walls crumpled down after her, and the lights flickered on and off. Finally finding the exiting door, Wanda ran toward it and flung it open. She was fre-!  
  
"Oomph!" she crashed into a security guard who was standing just outside the door. Wanda growled. She would destroy everyone of them if necessary, for all the pain and misery they put her through. She was about to conjure up a hex bolt when, to her astonishment, the guard shifted shapes, growing taller and slimmer, until where he had been, an attractive blue woman was now standing in front of her.  
  
"How-?" Wanda stared at the stranger in surprise.  
  
"That's enough, Wanda. Come with me, I have... a place for you." The lady took her arm and guided her toward the car that was waiting for them.  
  
"Let go of me." Wanda growled. The ground under the lady's feet suddenly collapsed, forming a miniature rock slide.  
  
Mystique cursed. This was going to be harder than she had planned. Not only was Wanda Maximoff turning out as stubborn as her brother, who was already in the Brotherhood, but she was highly unpredictable. *Must run in the family,* she thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes. *Joy.* But she *had* to have this young girl as the newest addition to the Brotherhood. Young Mr. Maximoff would flip, Mystique knew, but the Brotherhood's opinions didn't matter. Wanda was the ultimate key, the link that she'd been missing for all these years, to defeating the Xmen. To defeating Magneto. But first thing in priority was to calm Wanda's anger.  
  
"Agatha!" An ancient looking woman got out of the car and muttered some undecipherable words. Mystique watched the process. An immediate change came over Wanda. The caged anger in her eyes faded away, replaced by a tranquil blank expression. She nodded in agreement and got into the car. Mystique smiled to herself and got into the driver's seat, and they zoomed down the street, to where a new future awaited. 


	4. Reunion of a Lifetime

A car pulled up beside a looming falling apart victorian styled house. The young girl got out of the back seat, as if in a trance, still under the influence of Agatha's mysterious words. Mystique walked rapidly ahead of them. Getting to the front door, she threw it open and entered. Wanda could hear surprised yells from inside.  
  
"...This place is like living in a dump!...You're pathetic, all of you...Whatever happened to the tough group of mutants I assembled?!......"  
  
Wanda listened to all of this in a dream like state, the words coming as if from far away. Agatha's words had a calming effect on her mind, numbing the anger and aggression.  
  
"...I bring you... our Secret Weapon!"  
  
Wanda felt a light push from behind her, as Agatha pushed her gently forward, muttering strange words to her. Obediently, Wanda walked forward, into the house. The sudden light hit her in the face.  
  
There was a sudden strangled yell. "WANDA?!"  
  
Wanda gasped, her head snapping up. That voice... "PiETRO?!?!" The spell that Agatha had over her severed suddenly by this shock, Wanda growled. It *was* him. He hadn't changed one bit, except he carried himself with a bit more of an arrogant flair. Wanda narrowed her heavily eyeshadowed and mascaraed eyes into paper thin slits. His hair, white as snow, combed back into those two impossible bangs. His blue eyes were still the same. Everything about him was the same! But Wanda saw none of this. All she saw through her eyes was a nine year old standing by...*him*...abandoning her and leaving her fate to *them*. Uttering a practically inhuman cry, Wanda lunged at Pietro. "DIE!!"  
  
Pietro, who was standing there gaping at his sister, ducked out of her attack. "Hey!" He hastily zipped out of her reach. "Wanda-" he tried again, but Wanda flung her hands up at that second, sending a calandebra flying in his direction.  
  
"You traitor!" she spat, oblivious to the stares from the Brotherhood. "You betrayed me, you... you..." Too angry to think of a bad enough word, Wanda took her frustration out on whatever happened to be in front of her at the moment, which happened to be Todd. He was sent flying with a resounding "AAAAAIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!" into the living room, where there was a loud CRASH and a groan. Wanda glowered heatedly at Pietro. "You betrayed me, brother dear, and for that you *will* pay!" Before she could pounce on him again, Mystique grabbed her arm and pulled her back.  
  
"That's ENOUGH, Wanda. Save some of that energy for... a more... *appropriate* target. Killing Pietro right now will not do, however tempting. We'll need every person and power we can get for this next mission..." She left the room, beckoning Agatha to follow, leaving Wanda still glaring full force at Pietro.  
  
"Wanda, it's... um.. nice to see you too... um.. wanna talk or something?"  
  
"Or I have a better idea. How about you die right now for what you did to me?" Wanda snapped, starting to go at him again.  
  
"Ontheotherhand,I'mquitetired,soIthinkI'mgonnagotobed.Rightnow.Toodles!" And with that, Pietro had zipped upstairs in the blink of an eye. Alone, upstairs in his room, Pietro plopped down on his bed. "Oh man, wonderful! Just perfect..." he groaned.  
  
There was a sudden tap on the door. "Yo, Pietro, y'awake?"  
  
"Go away Todd!" Pietro groaned  
  
The door creaked open and Todd stuck his head in. "Hey, you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, fine. Just peachy. Except if you haven't noticed, I have a sister who WANTS TO KILL ME!!" Pietro snapped. "Other than that, I'm just fine!"  
  
"Hey, anything you're not telling us about that we should really know Pietro?" Lance came into the room. Pietro groaned. "What part of leave me alone don't you guys understand? I'm tired. I need my beauty sleep. Go. Away."  
  
"Pietro, who is that homicidal chick down there?" Lance demanded.  
  
Pietro sighed. "Okay,okay,I see I'm not going to be getting any sleep in the next century until I answer your crummy question. If you must know," he muttered. "Her name's Wanda, she's my sister, and she has this serious thing against me." 


	5. A Secret Revealed

"WHAT?!" Lance stared at Pietro. "Since when did you have a sister?"  
  
"Since I was born!" Pietro snapped. "And she was born four minutes after me!"  
  
"Your TWIN?" Todd's eyebrows rose in surprise and disbelief. "How come you never told us, Quickie?"  
  
"Because I didn't want to think about that episode of my life," Pietro said, looking miserable. "She was my best friend, guys! My little sis. I promised her I would never leave her and we'd always be together when we were little." A ghost of a smile flickered briefly on Pietro's pale face before it darkened again. "Then when we were nine, Father told me that Wanda's powers were going out of control, that we needed to send her to an asylum for the good of all. I argued, of course." Pietro's voice turned bitter. "There was absolutely nothing wrong with Wanda or her power, just a little undeveloped, and he knew it. I now know he did. But back then, I was just a stupid little kid who didn't know what to say. And so, he pressured me to follow him and convinced me to do the same, and I- abandoned her." Pietro sighed. "I really don't feel like talking about it anymore." he said abruptedly.  
  
"That why she wants ta kill you?" Todd whispered. But there was no reply, just the wind howling through the window. Pietro had lain down and turned his back to them all in the blink of an eye.  
  
Lance sighed. This was obviously big news to them all. But why had Pietro concealed this from them? He glanced back toward the door, wondering what Wanda was doing downstairs. Lance shook his head. "Come on Todd," he said. It was not going to be any use talking to Pietro now, he was in one of his little moods.  
  
Going back downstairs, they found Wanda sitting fuming on the couch. "Um, h-hey... yo, Wanda?" Todd said hesitantly, hopping closer cautiously to the girl.  
  
Wanda's head snapped up, her dark eyes smoldering with barely caged anger. She reminded Lance of a caged animal that as soon as you open the cage, it'll jump out and bite your head off.  
  
"What do you want?" she snarled. "You're one of *them* too, aren't you?" she glared at Lance and Todd. "One of *his* little pawns. Well, I'm not!"  
  
The lights flickered dangerously, on the verge of exploding.  
  
"Whoa, hey, easy!" Lance said. "Relax! We never said you were!"  
  
"Go!" Wanda growled. "Leave me alone!"  
  
She sent a kitchen chair flying towards them.  
  
"Hey! Watch it!"  
  
"Ah!"  
  
Lance and Todd barely dodged the chair, and they decided that maybe Pietro had a very good and smart point in going to bed early that night. They made a beeline for the stairs. 


	6. Blood is Thicker Than Water

Her room was dark, the curtains all drawn. It was in stark contrast to how it was before, with the last girl in the Brotherhood.  
  
*Man, I might have hated it then, but now, I actually miss the Goth girl!* Pietro thought, standing outside Wanda's room. *And Wanda's not exactly who I'm talking about...*  
  
"Wanda?" Pietro stuck his head in her room.  
  
"Get out." A very angry voice growled dangerously in the darkness.  
  
"Wanda, I-"  
  
"You WHAT, Pietro?" Wanda came out of the dark, seemingly from out of nowhere, and glared at him. Her dark green eyes, so much like their late mother's, burned with hatred, but also mingled with hurt. "Save your breath, Pietro, because you *don't* have anything to say to me, and I don't have anything to say to you. Not anymore." Her voice was harsh.  
  
"Would you just listen to me?" Pietro insisted. "Look, I didn't mean to leave you! I didn't WANT to leave you, Wanda! But- well..." he sighed. "Father said that you were not stable with your powers or your temper back then, and well-"  
  
"That's why you abandoned me, did you?" Wanda said coldly.  
  
"I didn't have much of a choice!" The speed demon cried, exasperated. "I-I don't know, I guess I was afraid. Of you, mainly." Pietro gave a short laugh, an enbittered laugh. "You know what Father told me that night?"  
  
"Your Father, Pietro! Not mine! He never was and never will be!"  
  
"OUR father, Wanda!" Pietro insisted. "You can't run from the past forever, no matter how much you want to!"  
  
"Watch me!"  
  
Pietro took a deep breath. The last thing he wanted to do was widen the already hopeless gap between himself and Wanda by having a stupid argument. He looked determiningly at his sister, who avoided his eyes. "Wanda- Wanda, look at me. Wanda, please?"  
  
Wanda sighed, then raised her eyes slightly to gaze coolly at Pietro. "Your power is *speed*, isn't it?" she asked in a mocking tone. "Whatever you have to say, you'd better say it fast, brother dear, and then *get out*."  
  
Pietro blinked. *Okay... maybe not the best response she could have given me, but still, at least she'll let me talk..* "Like I said, I guess I was a little afraid of you. But.. also of Fa- uh.. Magneto. You know what he told me?" Pietro took his sister's silence for a 'what?', so he continued on. "He said, 'Let what should happen happen, my son. And I do hope you're not trying to contradict me.' in this really cold tone when I tried to argue." He looked down at the floor. "I dunno... I guess I was afraid he'd disown me or something. Hit me. Throw me to a pack of cheetahs and see who won. I mean, c'mon! I was just a stupid little kid, what was I SUPPOSED to think?"  
  
There was a long very uncomfortable silence in the room after Pietro finished. Wanda stared at him, trying to decide whether he was telling the truth or not. "That's not what he told me," she whispered, with a note of lingering suspicion in her voice. "He told me that you agreed to go with him, choose his side over mine that night, on your own free will."  
  
Pietro stared at Wanda, and cursed under his breath. "That's bull-" he sputtered. "I swear I *never* said that!" His blue eyes flashed. "When'd he tell you that?" he demanded.  
  
"The first time he remembered to come visit me," Wanda said bitterly. "Yeah, like about what? A year later?" She looked at her brother closely. "You never said that?" she said at last.  
  
"No!"  
  
Wanda's head was whirling. She didn't know whose words to trust. If the circumstances had been different, she would have trusted Pietro any day. But Wanda couldn't shake the image of Magneto and Pietro standing there in the rain that dark night all those miserable years ago. She wanted to believe him, would give anything to be able to believe him again. But she just couldn't... Could she? On one hand, Wanda *hated* Pietro with a bloody passion, for not stopping Magneto from putting her in a hell-hole for all these years. But... is it really possible to *hate* your soul's other half? Truly *hate* it?  
  
"And you- Where were you up until now?" Wanda asked quietly, traces of her former hostility gone. Pietro took that as a good sign. He shrugged.  
  
"Moved from place to place. After you were gone, I stayed with Father for a little while longer. Mom died during that time..." Pietro bit his lip. "Father... he- he never was really a dad to me either. Kept being out all the time, leaving me alone at home, sometimes for days at a time. I think the longest was a week. His excuse was always the same. Something about important stuff to do. Anyways, I finally got fed up with it and bolted. Originally, before I left, I was gonna come for you, but I thought that plan was screwed 'cause Dad told me you'd died."  
  
"He WHAT?!" Wanda shouted. The lightbulb in the room did explode this time, with a loud resounding POP! Now, it was Wanda's turn to force herself to calm down. "Sorry," she muttered. "Then what?"  
  
"I had to take his word for it. I mean, it was the old man's word against mine, and I was what? Eleven?"  
  
"So that's why you never came for me..." Wanda said in a whisper, finishing Pietro's words and thoughts for him. "I waited for you, Pietro. I waited for you for as long as I could, kept up the frugal hope that one day, you'd find a way to bust me out of that place. You always were the creative one, the daring one. But endless days in that asylum, endless tests, endless therapy, endless research, and then more tests, I guess... it broke me."  
  
"Heart?"  
  
Wanda gave Pietro a quizzical look. "Heart what?"  
  
"Broken heart?"  
  
Comprehension dawned in the girl's eyes and she snorted, and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But it's no big deal."  
  
From his jean pocket, Pietro dug around for a little while, obviously trying to find something. "I know it's around here somewhere.." he muttered. "Aha! Voila!" he grinned, pulling out a very old looking piece of something, holding it out in his hands. It was a Band-Aid, still wrapped in its paper covering. It looked about five years old, at least. Wanda gaped at it. "Is that a Band-Aid?" she asked.  
  
"For your broken heart, sis," Pietro said quietly, offering it to her. "I packed it when I was just leaving Dad's place, you know, when I was eleven, and I meant to give it to you when I came and picked you up at the asylum. But then Father told me that you'd died, and I- well... I've kept it in my pockets ever since. So, you know, so you could be "in" me for the rest of my life, and I'd have a part of you with me, even though you'd 'died'." Pietro cocked his head to one side and studied Wanda. "But I'm glad you didn't though."  
  
"I'm glad I didn't either," Wanda said, a little first genuine smile appearing on her face. There was a pause, then she threw her arms around Pietro's neck. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that again." she said. "I was afraid I'd never be able to again, that my anger and hatred over the years would permanently block you off." Wanda looked at the old and worn Band-Aid in her hands. "But I was wrong, I guess. Thanks for caring." she said softly.  
  
"Hey, that's what twins are for, right?" Pietro said brightly. "Anytime Wand, anytime." 


	7. Sacrifice

"So what do you guys do around here?" Wanda asked, lounging on the couch a week later, bored out of her skull. Heaving a big sigh, she picked up the remote control and clicked on the TV.  
  
"Well, um, depends yo," Todd said, hopping into the room in time to hear the question. "Number one entertainment around here is go bother the Xgeeks."  
  
"Yeah, those X dorks are gonna look like a joke next to us, thanks to you Wanda!" Pietro cackled, clapping his sister on the back. "Say hello to the new and improved Brotherhood!"  
  
"Heh heh!" Todd laughed, nailing a fly with his tongue and slurping it in. Wanda rolled her eyes, grimacing at the disgusting sight.  
  
"Toad, you rrrreeeaaalllllyyy gotta cut the deal with the fly thing," Pietro said. "Sheesh, and you wonder why you never get any girls!"  
  
"I'll show you why you'll never again get any more girls either, Speedy!" Todd snarled, taking careful aim at Pietro's overperfect silky white hair.  
  
"ARGH!!Notmyhair!Todd!Youdoandyoudie,buddy!Notthehair,notthehair,notthehair,notthehair.."  
  
Just then, the doorbell rang.  
  
"Ah! Saved by the bell!" And with that, Pietro was gone. A second later, the Brotherhood heard him fling the door open.  
  
"HeyJulia,mysexygorgeouschica,readyforourda-... oh shit..."  
  
It was Magneto.  
  
"F-Father?" Pietro blinked. "What are you doi-?"  
  
"That is not of utmost importance Pietro," Magneto interrupted. "I'm here for your sister, I know she's here." His voice rumbled with impatience.  
  
*Ohshit,ohshit,ohshit,ohshit,ohshit...* The speed demon's mind raced to come up with decent enough excuses. Something, anything to drive Magneto away, and prevent him from taking Wanda away from him again. But all that came up was empty blankness.  
  
"Well? Move aside son!"  
  
"Um, would you.. excuse me for just one second?" Pietro said, then zipped into the house and bolted the door before Magneto could even think to reply back. He didn't know how long the door would hold, considering the bolt was made of metal and his dad *was* the Master of Magnetism, but now was not the time to think about that.  
  
"Guys!" Pietro ran into the livingroom, where everybody was at.  
  
"What happened? What'd you do to the poor girl this time yo?"  
  
"Shut up!" Pietro hissed. "Wanda, go upstairs."  
  
"Wh-?"  
  
"Go now!" There was no way Pietro was telling Wanda who was at the door. She'd probably want to go out there and knock Magneto's block off, and more than likely get killed for it.  
  
Wanda gave Pietro the look. "Who's at the door, Pietro?" she asked. "I know it's not a girl."  
  
BAM! BAM! BAM!  
  
"Pietro!" The bolt started to turn.  
  
Wanda's eyes widened. The old familiar dark mask once again veiled her face as she stormed forward. The front door melted instantly, under her heated gaze, forming an ugly jagged gapping hole.  
  
"You!" she snarled. "ARGH!" Reaching out with everything Agatha had ever taught her while with the Brotherhood, Wanda clenched her fists. The effect was amazing. Magneto flew back in the air, suspended there in midair by his own magnetic repelling power. Things crackled and burned around him.  
  
"Uh oh.. this could mean trouble with the city yo," Todd gulped, watching the yard catch on fire.  
  
"Um.. yeah.. just kinda.." Lance said. "Wanda, calm down!" He glanced at Pietro for help. "Hey Pietro, a little help here would be nice and highly appreciated," he said with a bit of annoyance. "And the house will thank you someday. But that won't exactly be possible if it say, burned down right about now!"  
  
Pietro was paler than usual, and didn't seem to hear Lance's words. Instead, he was looking between Wanda and Magneto with a hard-to-read expression on his face. It was a mixture between a I'm-going-to-be-violently-sick to a ... genuinely terrified look.  
  
"Wanda.." A turbulent storm was raging inside Pietro. How could he let Magneto take Wanda away again? And so soon after they'd finally connected that rapport again? He couldn't, and he wouldn't. Pietro bit his lip, but his mind was made up. He stepped forward.  
  
"Leave Wanda out of it this time, Father."  
  
For a split second, everything was silent. Suddenly, five pairs of eyes all riveted themselves on Pietro.  
  
"*What* did you just say?" Magneto said coldly. "I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that."  
  
Pietro took a deep breath, but remained standing up tall and calm. Inside, it was a totally different story. His heart was hammering against his rib cage at an insane speed. Going and living with Magneto again by himself was the last thing in creation that he wanted to do. It might as well be suicide. During his brief staying with Magneto before he'd ran away, it had been the second worst experience in his life, only behind *that* night. He'd been left alone in a dark house for hours, while Magneto was at who-knows-where, doing his "important stuff". The hours had stretched into days, the days into weeks, leaving the young boy to fend for himself. Pietro shuddered at the memory, dreading having to do it all over again. But he felt that he owed it to Wanda, that and so much more, to the twins' lost years.  
  
"Pietro, what are you saying?" Wanda asked.  
  
Snapping back to the present by her voice, Pietro held up his hand. "Enough's enough," he said quietly. "You can't have her, Father, cuz I won't let you."  
  
"Foolish boy!" Magneto growled. "Her fate isn't in your hands Pietro. Even if you stop me today, you can't stop them from getting her."  
  
Pietro blinked. "Them?" he asked, a bit of suspicion creeping into his voice. "Who the hell is them?" he demanded.  
  
"The guards, who do you think?" Magneto snapped. "They're combing the city for Wanda."  
  
"Liar!" Wanda shouted, lashing out blindly with her hexes. Gravity suddenly kicked in at full force around Magneto, and because his powers were still ineffective from Wanda's earlier hex, he plummeted to the ground. "Why should I believe you?" she spat vehemously. "You've spent my entire life tearing me down, instead of building me up like a father's supposed to. Humiliating me, instead of encouraging," Wanda glared down at him. "You took pleasure in hearing me cry. Never once did you do something to make me smile, laugh! Anything that's happy and normal for a child, you took it away from me!!"  
  
"Let's go, Wanda," Magneto said, ignoring her speech.  
  
"Wait." Pietro clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. *God this is gonna suck...* "Leave her alone. Take me instead."  
  
The silence earlier compared nothing to this. The Brotherhood were all staring at him with their mouths open. Wanda gaped at him.  
  
"WHAT?!" she hissed. "Pietro, are you insane?!"  
  
"It's the only choice, Wanda!" Pietro snapped, staring at Magneto.  
  
"No it isn't! The way I see it, the only choice would be to blow this jerk's head all the way to the next planet," Wanda muttered. "And *don't* count me out on doing it, FATHER," she spat the last word out as if it was poison. "It may very well be the last thing you ever do..."  
  
Magneto stared at his son. This wasn't the Pietro he'd always known. Obviously, there was a stronger bond between the twins than Magneto had given them credit for. Under normal circumstances, which would be about any other time, Pietro would never think of sacrificing himself for somebody else. As far as Magneto knew, the arrogant mutant known as Quicksilver could care jack-ass about another person other than himself. *Obviously, this doesn't include Wanda. Drat the boy! Even after everything hurtful that I'm sure Wanda has said to him, he's still as close as ever to her. But after everything I've done for him, given him sanctuary and salvation, he hates me!* Well... if that's the way he wants it...  
  
"Very well, Pietro," Magneto said. "Come with me."  
  
"Pietro," Lance spoke up incredulously. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I- I have to do this, Lance," the white haired teen muttered. He looked his sister straight in the eye, blazing azure ones meeting emerald green ones. "For you, Wanda," he said softly. Then, Pietro looked back at Magneto. "When do we leave sir?"  
  
"Early tomorrow morning," Magneto said. "I will be here for you at 7 a.m. sharp. Be ready at the door then. Well, I have a certain business to attend to that needs my urgent attention. I'll be seeing you Pietro." With that, a nod, and a last cold look toward Wanda, Magneto turned on his heels and walked away.  
  
"I- guess I gotta go pack up," Pietro muttered, before zipping away, leaving the rest of the Brotherhood standing stunned in the front yard.  
  
"Well..." Todd gulped. "Tell me that what happened just now ain't what I thought just happened, yo."  
  
"Looks like it.." Lance stared after Magneto's retreating form.  
  
"Pietro..." Wanda whispered, staring at the spot where her brother had been just barely one second ago. A million thoughts flooded her mind, threatening to overwhelm her. *Why does these things always happen to me?!* she screamed internally. Magneto was gone, and because of her, Pietro would be gone by dawn. Separated. Again.  
  
"When will it stop?!" Wanda shrieked. "I *hate* this stupid guilt cycle! I command you to stop! STOP!!"  
  
"Wanda!" Lance tried to grab her.  
  
"Make. It. Stop..." Wanda growled through clenched teeth.  
  
"Make what stop?" Todd asked, trying to jump out of the way of falling debrees. "Ah!" He leapt out of the way just in time to avoid being clobbered by a fallen-off tree branch.  
  
"This... could get bad." Lance cursed silently under his breath. "Wanda, just calm down!" The Scarlet Witch's hexes were going haywire, toppling trees, setting shrubs on fire, combusting the fire hydrant.....  
  
"Hey man, I got her." Fred said, grabbing Wanda from behind. "Wanda, I've always thought you were an okay girl, just a little out of control at times, but-"  
  
"Oh man!" Todd groaned. "Freddy, now's not exactly the time to be saying 'I love you' and all that, yo!" he yelped, dodging a tree trunk.  
  
"I wasn't!" Fred retorted, turning redder than a fried lobster. "I was just-"  
  
"You wanna see how 'out of control' I am?" Wanda snarled. "I'll show you how out of controlled I can get when I'm done with you, Tubby!" But before she got a chance to wave a highly hazardous hand in the air, a car door slammed.  
  
"What the-???" It was Mystique, and she was back from one of Magneto's mandatory session meetings. Behind her, Agatha slowly made her way out of the car. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE YARD?!?!"  
  
"Uhh..." Todd tried to come up with an excuse. "The... things from the dance... came... uh.. back? Heh heh..." he gave a nervous chuckle.  
  
"Listen to me, you little imbecile!" Mystique glared at Todd, who cowered under her glower. "You three better listen up too!" she indicated Lance, Fred, and Wanda. "I just found out- wait a minute..." Mystique halted as she did a mental count. "Where is Pietro?"  
  
There was a dead silence. Lance and Todd glanced uncomfortably at each other. Todd shuffled his feet, staring at the ground, but didn't say anything. Finally Lance spoke up.  
  
"He's in his room packing."  
  
"WHAT?!" Mystique screeched, staring at Lance. "Is this some sort of *game*, Avalanche?" she asked dangerously. "Because if it is..."  
  
"It's not!" Lance replied back heatedly. "Magneto just stopped by. He was coming to get Wanda, but Pietro said that he'd go to save Wanda the expense of having to relive her past. Just basically sacrificed himself for her..." Lance closed his eyes. "Never thought he had it in him to do something like that..." he whispered.  
  
"You never knew the Pietro that I knew," Wanda said softly. The others, including Mystique, gaped at her. There were two rivers of tears streaming silently down her face, but she didn't even bother to wipe them away. *Screw what he thinks about showing your innermost emotions!* Wanda thought. "I-" she bit her lip. "I'm sorry Fred, for snapping at you. It's just... the world corrupted Pietro, and Magneto was the world to him when we were little, and he corrupted him even worse than what the world could ever do to you." Wanda looked at the ground. "What it did to me."  
  
Lance sighed. "Yeah, I know exactly how you mean. Hey, don't worry about it. Brotherhood stick together, right guys?"  
  
"Yeah!" Todd said, hopping up and down. "We ain't gonna let no stinkin' anybody just take Speedy like that, yo! We're gonna fight for him! RIght Freddy?"  
  
"Yeah, fight, heh heh!" Fred swung a massive fist in the air, nearly knocking Todd over. "Oops, sorry little buddy, didn't mean to do that."  
  
"How charming," Mystique said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. 


	8. For the Sake of All

Wanda stared at her plate, her dinner untouched before her. How could Magneto- how *dare* he- just show up like that?! Glancing at the stairs, her stomach flip flopped. Pietro had been in his room all evening. Wanda knew how hard it was for him to keep still in a room like that for that long. As children, he'd even been a little claustrophobic at times in tight spaces, where he couldn't move around a lot. It had gotten worse when his powers first showed up.  
  
"Wanda, aren't you gonna eat your dinner?" Fred looked a little shocked that anyone would just sit there while food was still on their plate.  
  
"I'm not hungry," the young girl muttered.  
  
"Not hungry?" Fred stared at her in amazement. "How can you not be hungry? You've barely touched the food! Man, I've had three refills and I'm still starving!"  
  
Wanda snapped. "Fine! Take it! Here's my plate, now you've had FOUR refills! Are you happy now?!" She glared at him. "Is food all you care about?!" she demanded. "What's the matter with you people?!" She stood up so suddenly that her chair fell back with a thud. Wanda glowered at them all, before turning on Lance. "You said that the Brotherhood look out for each other, Lance, stick up for each other. You told me that this afternoon. And yet," At this, she rounded on Fred. "you'd take FOOD over Pietro?!" Wanda looked at the group in disgust. "Excuse me," she muttered, heading for the stairs.  
  
"Where do you think you're going Wanda?" Mystique demanded.  
  
"To bed!" Wanda snapped. "Where does it LOOK like I'm going?" She stomped up to her room and slammed the door. Trembling with anger, she sat down furiously on her bed. How COULD they?! If there was one thing Wanda *hated*, it was people who talk double meanings. Hypocrites. She sat on her bed for a long time, glaring at the wall. The seconds ticked. One by one, Wanda could hear the others going into their respective rooms. The minutes passed by. The house was silent now. Glancing at the old and rusty clock on the wall, she noted the time. It read 9:30. Wanda sighed, then got up and opened her door a crack. Making her way down the hall and to the right, she came face to face with Pietro's room. She took a deep breath, held it, then slowly turned the doorknob. It opened with a click.  
  
"Pietro?"  
  
It was eerily similar to the exact same scene that played itself out nearly one week ago, except this time, the roles were reversed. But before Wanda had a chance to think, she heard a lightswitch flick on, the room was suddenly flooded in light, and Pietro was blinking at her.  
  
"Wanda?" There was a strange expression on his face that Wanda couldn't interpret. "What are you doing still up?"  
  
Wanda shrugged. "I dunno. Couldn't sleep, I guess," she said dully. She glanced around the room, which was now bare. "So.. I guess you're really leaving tomorrow, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess..." Pietro sighed, also glancing around the now empty room that he'd called home for the last year. He gave a hollow laugh, his eyes travelling back to the duffel bag that was lying open on his bed. "Well, guess that's that."  
  
"Pi, you don't have to do this, you know," Wanda said quietly, plopping down on his bed. "I mean..." she trailed off.  
  
"Yes, yeah I do Wanda," Pietro chucked his bag on the floor and flopped down on the bed. "More than you'll ever know. Do you know how often I kicked myself for letting Ma- er.. Mr. Unpleasant lock you up in that asylum that night? I still remember." He bit his lip. He hated more than anything in the world to admit his weaknesses. But they were all in the past. Or where they? Pietro fidgeted nervously, casting his mind around for any other topic.  
  
"Pietro?"  
  
The speedster looked up. "Yeah?"  
  
"There's just still one more thing I want to know, Pietro," Wanda said. This had been troubling her every since she'd woken up in her asylum cell a month ago in a cold sweat.  
  
"Shoot, sis."  
  
"Do you... remember something about a 'wady-bug'?"  
  
Pietro looked startled. "How'd you know about my dream?"  
  
"Your dream?"  
  
"Yeah, for about a week before you showed up, I had dreams about us as kids. In one of them, you were saying something about a wady-bug, but I can't remember what you were saying exactly."  
  
"Whoa..." Wanda muttered. "That's just freaky..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I had that dream around the same time."  
  
Pietro gave a faint grin at his sister. "Guess the twin thing really does exist, huh?"  
  
"Yeah..." Wanda felt a new surge of fury toward Magneto. How *could* he just take that away from them AGAIN? And so nonchalantly too! "I'm gonna get him one of these days..." she growled, almost to herself.  
  
The white haired speedster sighed. "Wanda, you can't just tackle him by yourself," he said in a tired tone.  
  
"Pietro, when I do go up against him," Wanda said in a quiet voice. "I ask that you don't get in my way."  
  
"But-"  
  
Wanda gazed levelly at him, with a don't-test-me-on-this look on her face. "Pietro, I'm serious. You may be older, but I can definitely take care of myself. I AM going up against him, and if *anybody* gets in my way, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens to them."  
  
Pietro sighed. "Okay, okay, I get the point. I just-" *I just don't want to see you get hurt.* "Just don't go overboard with the whole revenge thing, okay?"  
  
Wanda stared at a spot past Pietro. "I can't guarantee that," she said. "That's like- like asking Freddy to don't go overboard with eating up the house. I can't do that, Pietro. You know I can't."  
  
Pietro sighed again. He'd expected such an answer from Wanda, but it still kinda hurt to hear it from her, not that he would ever admit it. "Yeah. Okay." He looked around his empty room. "Never thought I'd actually want to stay here longer in this pigpen with my crazy housemates doing crazy things," Pietro mused to himself. His tone was hard to describe. "Well, it's been fun while it lasted. Guess this is it. Adieu, sayonara, au revoir, finito, bye bye."  
  
"You don't have to do this to yourself, you know."  
  
Pietro groaned. "Work with me here, Wanda, let's not go through that again. It's hard enough having to do this without having to go through second thoughts." Biting his lip, he looked away. "I just- feel that I have to do this. It's not fair that you had to go through all those years in that place, while I had the high road here. Trust me, I'm far from thrilled about having to do this, and quite frankly, I'm scared shitless, okay? Yeah, let it be known to the world that Pietro Maximoff is scared. I don't care who you tell, just not the guys and definitely not Daniels. I prefer you not tell anyone though. I'm telling you cuz- well- now that we're on good terms again and I don't have to worry about you killing me," Pietro gave Wanda a grin. "and hey, c'mon, you're my little sis-"  
  
"Let's not forget the part called 'four minutes apart'" Wanda said dryly. She hated the thought of being younger and inferior to anybody, especially only by four lousy minutes.  
  
"Fine, four minutes, whatever. But I'm still older- Ow!" Wanda had kicked him in the shin. "Okay,okay!"  
  
Wanda smirked, but then grew serious again. "Trust me bro, whatever you tell me, I'm definitely not going to blab it out to those Xlosers." She scowled. "I'd like to wipe that sorry group of overpriviledged geeks to Kindom Come," she muttered. "Permanently."  
  
"Yeah," Pietro laughed. "Just don't let Lance hear you say that. He may hate that group with a bloody passion, but he kinda goes into LaLa Land and somehow always gets lost in there whenever his precious little Meow Meow enters the scene."  
  
"I've noticed. It's kinda hard NOT to notice." Wanda snickered.  
  
Pietro grinned at his sister. It was great to get Wanda on his side again. He had missed that closeness, that bond, more than he was willing to admit. "Hey, you remember that time in preschool? You know, when we stayed up way longer than we were supposed to, rehearsing so we could make the other kids think we could read each other's minds?" he laughed a bit at this. "They believed us, too. It was great..."  
  
"Oh yeah," Wanda smirked. That particular memory had lain half forgotten, dormant in the back of her mind for all these years. Suddenly, surges of childhood memories with Pietro surged back to her. Wanda and Pietro, doing this. Pietro and Wanda, doing that. Her early life flashed past before her. Pietro and Wanda as children, running around outside all day, being... children. Images flashed by of them climbing trees, making forts, playing King of the Mountain. She had always been somewhat of a tomboy growing up. The images were happy ones, the siblings were always together. Then, it suddenly reeled to a stop on that cold dark and rainy night when the twins were nine years old, like an old film projector that stopped working in the middle of an important lecture. *What's the rest of the story?* Wanda thought. The broken part of the projector, of her life, her years at the asylum, had been pretty much a blank.  
  
"Hey Sis, you okay?" Pietro looked at Wanda with a question mark in his dark blue eyes.  
  
"Huh?" Wanda blinked, and was surprised to find tears in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away impatiently, praying that Pietro hadn't seen it. "Yeah, I'm fine." Nothing could be further from the truth, but maybe Pietro had the right idea in switching the topic to that particular memory. Maybe it *was* better to think and talk happy thoughts for the few hours that they still had together.  
  
They talked well into the night and into the early hours of the morning. After countless yawns, Wanda finally fell asleep. Pietro bit his lip, watching her. Was he really doing the right thing? Even he wasn't so sure now. But he *had* to be. For the sake of all. 


	9. Preparing For Battle Pt1: Gone

"He's really gone, yo..." Todd said in a small, stunned voice the next morning. The entire Brotherhood clan were in the kitchen. For once in his life, Fred didn't seem to notice breakfast on the table. He was staring blankly at the bowl of cereal in front of him slowly getting soggy. "He's really truly gone, yo, and I never even got to say goodbye!" Todd wailed. "I'll never see Speedy again, and-"  
  
"Hey man, get a grip of yourself!" Lance tried to calm down the hysterical Todd. He himself was just as stunned as the rest of the group. Pietro... gone? Somehow, that image just wouldn't click in Lance's mind. *Pietro can't be gone. Not Pietro! He'll come whirlwinding in here any second now and raid the sugar jar. Or- or eat a bowl of Super Sugary Sugarbombs, chug a can of Jolt Cola, and complain about Todd and his smell or something. Anything.* Lance half-glanced at the stairs. He didn't know what he was looking for. Perhaps a near miracle or something. A tall skinny sixteen year old appearing at breakfast from seemingly out of nowhere on just a normal day. Anything to drive away the sick feeling that was slowly gnawing away at his guts. "Oh God.." Lance groaned, sinking down into a chair and putting his head in his hands. It was the first time he'd called on and petitioned God in a long time, maybe the first time in his life. If the situation hadn't been so dark right now, he would've found this to be amusing. Suddenly, Lance could feel two stunned eyes boring holes in his back. Turning around, he saw Wanda standing there by the kitchen doorway.  
  
"He's.. really.. gone.. isn't.. he?" she asked in a shaky voice.  
  
Todd couldn't take it anymore. Without another word, he got up and hopped up the stairs. They could hear the shower starting at full blast a second later, but it still couldn't block out the noise that sounded suspiciously like wailing that started from the bathroom then.  
  
Fred nodded blankly to Wanda's question. "Yeah, he's really gone..."  
  
Wanda clenched her fists. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. Her numb mind wandered back to that last conversation she'd had with her brother the night before, and one thing stuck out in particular that Pietro had said.  
  
~Wanda, if something should happen to me, not that I'm saying anything will, but *if* something does, tell the others salut for me, will ya? And tell Summers not to be such a prick. Whether he's actually capable of pulling something like that off, I seriously doubt it, but tell him for me. His reaction's priceless. And hey, listen Sis, lighten up on life a little, okay? My motto in life is you can sit around being bored and gloomy all day, or you can have a little fun and annoy some people, so why sit around?~  
  
Pietro had said those words to her just last night, and now he was gone. *This isn't right!* Through her anger and frustration, Wanda started to power up. Things flew around the room, the TV turned on by itself and then short circuited, and cracks appeared on the walls. The windows spontaneously shattered one by one outwards.  
  
Lance's already overly-stressed nerves finally snapped. "Wanda, calm down!" he hissed. "Jesus Christ, what are you trying to do? Kill us all?"  
  
Wanda whirled on Lance, her dark eyes full of rage. "Just shut your trap, Lance!" she snapped. "You have no idea what you're talking about. It's just all talk, isn't it?" She glowered at the Brotherhood. "Why didn't you stop Jerk Face from taking Pietro? You didn't care about him at all, did you?"  
  
"That's not true!" Lance growled. The ground started rumbling. "We cared about him too! We're a family, Wanda! We stick up for each other!"  
  
"Well, *somebody* sure has a funny way of showing it!" Wanda snarled. "You want to take me on, Avalanche?" she asked dangerously. "You're a smart guy, Lance, but that's not one of your brighter ideas." Chaos energy danced on her fingertips. Her slender fingers forming arcane gestures, Wanda waved it around in the air. Without warning, a section of the floor caved in.  
  
"WANDA!!" Mystique screamed, coming down the stairs just in time to see that.  
  
"He started it!" Wanda snapped.  
  
"That's enough! I don't care who started it! You're both going to end it!" Mystique glared at both of them. "We don't attack our own teammates!"  
  
"Yeah, just like we didn't let Father take Pietro without a fight, right?" Wanda shot back vehemously. "Nobody deserves to go back and live with... *him*, even if they do deserve it! And least of all Pietro, because he doesn't deserve to!" She stared angrily at the Brotherhood. "You said we are a family, Lance?" she challenged. "Now's your chance to prove it!"  
  
Lance opened his mouth to say something, but Mystique beat him to it.  
  
"I know you want revenge more than anything else in the world, Wanda, and you shall have it. But we're not ready yet to fight Magneto! We need some more training."  
  
"We don't have time for more training!" Wanda growled impatiently, the tone in her voice at that split second not unlike that of her brother's. "I'm ready..." The air around them crackled with pure chaos energy. "And I'm going. Whether you want to follow me or just sit on your sorry butts all day is your choice." She looked around at the others.  
  
Hesitating, Lance and Fred both glanced nervously at Mystique.  
  
"All right," Mystique said at last, after a very uncomfortable pause. "Wanda, if you're that insistant, fine. You may go ahead and try to find wherever Magneto's hideout is. Go round up Xavier's group-"  
  
"Aw, man, not the X-dorks!" Fred complained. "Can't we leave those losers out of it? They'll just hog all the glory if we beat Magneto!" But he was silenced by a very heated stare from both Mystique and Wanda.  
  
"No!" Mystique snapped. "We'll have to use them as playing pieces on the field if we want to have a chance at beating Magneto in the first place, Blob!"  
  
"Okay, okay, it was just a suggestion..." Fred grumbled.  
  
"Anyways.." Mystique growled, throwing another annoyed glare in Fred's direction. She was not in the best of moods. "Round up the Xmen with you, Wanda. We'll need everybody we can get. We'll catch up to you later. Don't get yourself killed."  
  
Wanda smirked. "I'll manage." she said. Going up to her room, she packed all that she had in a bag. Exiting out, she paused briefly, hovering near Pietro's door. For the first time in ages, Wanda actually truly missed her brother. During her stay at the asylum, she had blocked all thoughts of him out of her mind, had played a cruel trick on her mind. She had managed to convince herself that she hated Pietro. *But I really don't! Is this your idea of a cruel game for punishing my hate by taking away my soulmate forever?!*  
  
"God, why does my life have to be so screwed up?" Wanda whispered, to no-one in particular. Suddenly remembering where she was, she narrowed her dark eyes and stalked downstairs with her bag in tow.  
  
"It's called life, Wanda." A very familiar masculine voice spoke up. Looking up, Wanda saw Lance standing by the kitchen door. "It's all around us, and there's no way around it or past it. Any of us would know, because we've lived the same life you've lived. Hell, I was moved from Orphanage Crappy, Crappier, through Crappiest in three years flat. Todd was booted out of his house when his parents found out that their kid was a mutant. Freddy doesn't even remember his parents." Lance's voice was soft, but embittered by an age quality well beyond his years. "Life's no picnic, Wanda, especially for us."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Wanda muttered. "He's going to *pay* for this!" And with this, the young hex-casting Scarlet Witch stalked out the door without another backward glance.  
  
"Oh that went well," Lance grumbled, staring at Wanda's retreating figure. He sighed, then returned to the kitchen. "Where's Tylenol when you need it?" he muttered. "I need some. A whole bottles' worth."  
  
"Yeah, and now, Wanda's gone too. Guess it's just me, you, and the little guy, buddy, stuck with the Boss Lady and Grandma." Fred said grimly.  
  
"Grandma?" Lance blinked up at Fred.  
  
"Yeah, that freaky ancient lady that looks like she's at least a couple bajillion years old."  
  
If Lance hadn't been so miserable, he would've laughed at this. Instead, he just gave a smirk, and then sighed. "Freddy, go check up on Toad, make sure he hasn't drowned himself or anything. The shower's been running pretty long."  
  
"Okay." The big teen lumbered up the stairs and up toward the closed bathroom door. The wailing had stopped, so Fred took that as a good sign. "Hey Todd, you okay in there?" he asked in concern, banging on the door.  
  
Todd came out, his eyes a puffy red color. "Yeah, I'm fine, yo," he sighed. "Can't believe Pietro's really gone though, yo..."  
  
"Yeah... And so's Wanda."  
  
Todd blinked. "Where'd Wanda go?"  
  
"Gone to find Magneto."  
  
"By herself?!" Todd yelped. "What, does she has some kind of sick death wish or something, yo? I mean, I know she's strong and all. She beat the Xgeeks tails pretty bad that one time, but she's not THAT strong to beat someone like Magneto!"  
  
"I didn't say beat," Fred said nervously. "I said FIND. There is a difference."  
  
"Not in that girl's dictionary, there isn't.." Todd said. "I mean, what are we supposed to do? Sit back, sip a piny colada (A/N: However the heck you spell it, lol :D), and watch the view, yo?"  
  
"Actually, I think the Boss Lady said we're supposed to help her."  
  
"WHAT?!" Todd yelped again, falling down the stairs. "Oww...."  
  
Lance groaned. "We are going to need help," he muttered. "Big time." 


	10. Preparing For Battle Pt2: Please Forgive...

A/N: This chapter is set about six weeks later after Chapter 9.. Enjoy! :D And as always, R&R! Also, I apologize if I butcher the New Brotherhood's speeches. I've only heard Colossus talk one time, Pyro none, and Gambit, I'm still not sure how his Evo-made Cajun accent's supposed to sound like. Soo.... yeah.. bare with me, k? :D  
  
Chapter 10  
  
"WHAT?!" Pietro screeched. He glared at his new teammate, Colossus, and in turn, the young Russian teen frowned back at the speed demon.  
  
"That was his orders," Peter replied angrily back. Normally, he was a mild guy, but he was rapidly loosing patience with this white haired kid. They had been carrying on this argument for the last fifteen minutes, and it looked far from over. Pietro, for one, was not one for ending arguments unless it ended in his favor.  
  
"He ordered us to attack the BROTHERHOOD?!?!" Pietro stared suspiciously at Peter. "Humans, yeah, I can understand. And yeah, I can understand if Father asked us to maybe pound up the X-geeks or something. But why the Brotherhood?"  
  
"How in the world should I know?!" The large teen threw up his hands in frustration. "I just work here for the Boss!"  
  
"Well, you'd better find out, and you'd better find out soon!" Pietro crossed his arms. "Because there's no way in hell I'm going to fight against the Brotherhood."  
  
"Why don't *you* ask him, mate?" Pyro suggested, entering into the conversation. "He's right behind you." There was a hint of a smirk in his tone.  
  
"Huh?" Turning around swiftly, Pietro found himself face to face with his father. Magneto didn't look happy.  
  
"What's this about?" he rumbled, his voice cold, as he stared at his son. Pietro, however, in his agitation, didn't seem to notice. Either that or he deliberately chose to ignore it.  
  
"Nothing.ExceptMetalBoyheresaidthatyougaveorderstoattacktheBrotherhood,sir," Pietro muttered, glaring at Colossus. When Pietro was agitated, he talked fast. And when he talked fast, nobody on the face of the blessed planet even hoped to understand him.  
  
"Okay, I don't know 'bout any of you, but care to repeat that just a lliiiiittttttttllee bit slower for all us slow hommes in dis world that don't have hearts that beat a hundred bajillion times per second, mon ami?" Remy spoke up. The Cajun looked amused, which didn't serve to exactly calm down Quicksilver's nerves.  
  
"You, Cajun, keep out of this," Pietro snapped. "Is this slow enough for you? Now, where the heck was I? Oh yeah. Metal Boy here said that we are to attack the Brotherhood."  
  
"MY NAME IS PETER OR COLOSSUS!" Peter shouted, looking murderous. "NOT METAL BOY, METAL HEAD, OR METAL ANYTHING!"  
  
"My my, what a temper!" Pietro taunted, laughing zippingly away. "You know, heart attacks rank number three in the all-time reason for deaths," he smirked. "Right behind suicides and accidental accidents."  
  
"As well as certain speed demons who talk too much, resulting in being strangled to death by me!" Peter snapped.  
  
"Like I said, temper temper!" Pietro was having fun.  
  
"DIE!!" Peter shouted, lunging at him. Pietro, however, zipped away at the last possible millisecond, and Colossus landed on the ground, getting nothing but a faceful of dirt.  
  
"Too slow!" Pietro laughed. "Anyways, Metal Boy here," he gestured at Peter, who growled at him from the ground, "said you gave us orders to attack the Brotherhood, sir-"  
  
"That is precisely what I said, Pietro."  
  
"Yes, of course. And I said- Huh?"  
  
"I think what you said was 'there's no way in hell I'm going to fight against the Brotherhood'," Pyro smirked. "Not 'Huh'."  
  
"Shut up!" Pietro growled, and the next moment, Pyro found himself flat on his face. "I'm not amused at that lame joke, just in case you want to know," he said dryly, before turning back to Magneto. "F-Father, what are you saying?"  
  
"I'm saying exactly what you're hearing, my young Quicksilver. Do you really think Mystique is going to be kept in the dark for long about our whereabouts? She'll find this hideout sooner or later, and when she does, she'll destroy it, with the help of the Brotherhood. Those pathetic fools are rendered into mutes whenever she's around, and it won't take much for Mystique to threaten them into following her in turning against us. The Misfits are the starting piece of my dream, Pietro, and I won't have it destroyed by the Brotherhood."  
  
His tone of voice was like that of a young parent explaining to a toddler why that child can't have something that they want. Pietro sighed impatiently. These arguments never went his way. Even if he did try to argue against his father, all he would probably get is another fierce beating. The young speed demon flinched involuntarily as memories of the most recent previous beatings resurfaced to the top of his mind, even as he tried in vain to push them back down without success. He glanced at the angry, still red welt on his arm from three days before, and touched the wound gently. *Ah, well, so much for perfect skin!* Pietro thought, bitterness and resentment welling up inside him. But he carefully masked these feelings and all his emotions from Magneto, instead raising his eyes and gazing steadily at his father.  
  
"But what about Wanda?"  
  
"What *about* Wanda?"  
  
"What do you mean 'what about Wanda'?!" Pietro was rapidly loosing what little patience he had to begin with. "Wanda, you know! As in the girl that can make virtually anything happen. My sister. My twin." Bitterness tinged Quicksilver's voice. "Y'know, you told me that she was dead for six years, and I actually believed that for six years."  
  
"This is different, Pietro." Magneto said. "I need you for this mission. You're the only one fast enough to create a temporary diversion, and we will attack."  
  
"But Lance and Blob are cool!" Now, Pietro was starting to whine. That was his trick, and his best weapon. If you can't win by reason, you'll be guaranteed a quick 100% reliable victory by annoying the hell out of the other person. "And Frog Boy is cool too, when he remembers to take a bath every once in a while. And if you think I'll be the one to make a timely diversion and sit there and let you attack Wanda, you might as well think up another plan, Father, cuz I ain't doing it." Pietro crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly.  
  
Magneto rubbed his temples, already getting a headache from this son of his with the stubbornness level of a donkey. How anyone can give a person a splitting migraine in three minutes flat was beyond him. "Pietro... remember what we talked about last week..." was all he said.  
  
There was silence. Finally, Pietro sighed. "Okay,okay," he snapped in resignation. He was quiet for a long time, a record for him, as he thought about something, and as he seemed to turn it around over and over again in his head carefully. "Fine, I'll do it," Pietro said at last. He didn't sound happy. "Promise you won't do anything to harm Wanda?" The speed demon's blue eyes looked suspiciously, even almost in a pleading beseeching manner, at the Master of Magnetism.  
  
"You have my word, Quicksilver," Magneto nodded. "She won't be harmed in any fashion. It's just the others that I want."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For... various reasons."  
  
Pietro didn't know what to think. These guys were once his closest friends! He couldn't just turn back around and say "Gee, guys, it's been super knowing ya, and thanks for your friendship, but my father wants you for 'various reasons', so I guess I'm gonna just have to attack you, knock you out, and turn you in. Sorry guys." Oh, that'll work well... Pietro could just see it now. He shook his head.  
  
"That'll never work, Father," he snapped impatiently. "For one, Lance and Freddy aren't exactly the type to just bow out and be taken without some form or another of either big things coming down or some mega big time bloodshed. Todd is too inferior to do anything, except create a big stink, and I'm not laying a hand on Wanda."  
  
"Are you questioning my authority, Pietro?" Magneto asked coldly. "Sabretooth... come here for a second..."  
  
"Ontheotherhand,I'lljustbegoingrightnowtofetchthem," Pietro said quickly, zipping away as far as possible from that crazy insaned lunatic under his father's employ. Sure, Quicksilver could always dodge the much slower Sabretooth, who, despite his own predator-like stealth and quickness, was no match for Pietro's pure speed. But he didn't want to think about the 0.0000000000009% chance that Victor Creed *might* catch him, and what the larger mutant might do to him. Pietro suppressed a shudder as he ran. Soon, the familiar town of Bayville was around him again. *Home* he thought, looking around him, and dreading what he had to do. But in the deepest part of his heart, Pietro dreaded even more what Magneto would do to him if he DIDN'T carry out this mission. *God, Lance is gonna kill me...* he thought, grimacing. "And if he doesn't, Father will. Either way, I'm gonna be screwed and dead from both sides. Guys, please understand why I have to do this... and forgive me...* 


	11. Two Heartfelt Talks

Chapter 11:  
  
"Good. Very good..." Mystique looked at the two lines of mutants in front of her. The X-Men, with their leader Xavier; herself leading the Brotherhood. Everybody was assembled on the mansion's vast front lawn.  
  
"I don't get it, Professor," Kitty said, a concerned frown etched on her face. "Magneto's back?" She shook her head a little, her usual high bouncy ponytail swinging lightly from side to side. "I mean, nobody has heard from him for like what? Ever since the Asteroid M event, which was totally forever ago."  
  
"Yes, I quite agree, Kitty," Professor Xavier said, looking at Mystique. "Erik supposedly perished that day, when the moon base detonated."  
  
"Why would Magneto come back?" Scott looked suspiciously at Mystique. "It all sounds so sketchy, Professor. I wouldn't-."  
  
"Has Wanda told you nothing when she was here, Summers?" Lance snarled, taking a step forward. "Magneto is back in town, and he'll seek to activate his little take-over-the-world plot. He'll stop at nothing at achieve that, and where do you think we'll be then, huh?"  
  
"Should I know, Alvers?" The X-Men's oldest student and field leader's tone of voice was cool.  
  
"I don't know. You X-Geeks are supposed to be the smart and deep ones here, you tell me!" Lance wasn't backing down to anybody either. In fact, it was just the opposite. The ground started to rumble, and a very noticeable tremor shook the school grounds.  
  
"Lance!" Kitty ran forward and put a restraining hand on the dark haired senior's arm. Likewise, Jean did the same with Scott. Lance glanced down at Kitty, and took a deep breath.  
  
"Sorry," he muttered. He glared at Scott. "Two of our members are gone. Maybe you have never had the experience of watching some nutcase take two of your closest friends, Summers, or maybe you just don't care. I don't know, okay? Maybe you filthy rich X-geeks can constantly resupply your team by offering mutants a mansion to live in, and all that money can buy. But we can't. We are all we have."  
  
"Lance, not all of us are like that," Kitty said softly, in a wounded tone. "Is that like, what you truly believe?"  
  
"Hell, I don't know!" Lance growled, but his tone did soften considerably. He turned and looked down at the petite brunette girl. "Kitty..." His eyes beckoned to her pleadingly, inviting her to enter the deepest part of his heart and not be like Scott. He wanted her to *understand*.  
  
After a long deliberate pause, Kitty did something that she'd only done once. Something that made up for Lance's last two miserable months. Putting her arms around Lance's neck, Kitty stood on tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"You've deserved that, Mr. Alvers," Kitty said, smiling up at him, despite the stony glare from Cyclops. "Whatever happens in this, I'm sure we're gonna be okay. Pietro's strong, y'know? I know how you like, feel toward us, but it doesn't mean all of us are like that." She sounded sad, but Lance just looked shocked.  
  
"God, you- you don't think I was saying that stuff about *you*, did you, Kitty?" Lance asked in a stunned tone. "I wasn't talking about you, Kitty! It was never about you!"  
  
Kitty smiled. "Lance Alvers, you totally rock," she whispered into his ear. Lance just wore a stupid grin on his face.  
  
"Okay, this is getting downright sickening," Mystique interrupted in disgust, muttering something about her "field leader and oldest recruite acting like a love starved idiot."  
  
"Lance, if what you say is indeed true," Professor Xavier mused out loud, breaking the uncomfortable silence between the two teams as they both looked at Lance and Kitty. He closed his eyes, casting his mind around in search of the man who was once his best friend, now his deadliest enemy. "If Erik is..." Silence once again ruled supreme. Scott continued to glare heatedly at Lance, but Lance decided to ignore the loser Scott by concentrating on Kitty.  
  
Suddenly, the Professor's eyes went wide. "My God, he IS here!" he exclaimed in surprise and shock.  
  
"Glad you finally decided to join us on the right page, Charles," Mystique said in biting sarcasm. "Now! Enough of this! Wanda should be joining up with us soon."  
  
***  
  
*Where are you, you coward?* Wanda Maximoff thought with narrowed eyes as she stalked through the town of Bayville. She ignored the looks that the people walking in the streets were giving her. Wanda knew she looked out of place, with her long scarlet coat and short spiky hair, nor did she really care. Her one priority in mind was to find and destroy her father. "I know you're around here somewhere.." she growled. "Don't play games with *me* Father..."  
  
"Hey Sis."  
  
Wanda whirled around, coming face to face with her brother. "Pietro?" she blinked, momentarily thrown at the sudden sight of him. How long had he been there? For a split second, brother and sister stood there, staring at each other. Then, they both stepped forward in an embrace.  
  
Everything was right with the world.  
  
"God, Pietro, you have no idea-" Wanda whispered, breaking off, unable to finish. He was okay! Or was he? Gazing levelly at him, Wanda studied her brother's face. He seemed... nervous. Jumpy. Of course, Pietro had always been jittery, given the side effects of his power, but today, he seemed even more so than normal. "Pietro?" Wanda asked quietly. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Huh?" Pietro gave her a bright smile. "Yeah! What makes you say that?"  
  
Wanda shrugged. "You just seem a little... jumpier than usual." She shook her head. "But enough of this. Where's Father?"  
  
Pietro looked uncomfortable. "He's- um-.." He shifted nervously, hoping Wanda didn't catch on and figure out the real reason why he was back. "He has stuff to do," Pietro finished lamely, trying to look as if this was the whole truth and nothing but the truth. *Well, he DOES have stuff to do...* he tried to defend himself, but it was a weak attempt. Pietro Maximoff usually had no trouble lying his way through life. He could sit there and lie his head off to anybody and get away with it without anybody suspecting anything. But somehow, it was always different with his sister. As far back as he could remember, Pietro had never used his tactics against her, had never applied his spiteful and manevolent side against Wanda. Until now.  
  
"Stuff to do?" Wanda repeated. "He's still alive then." Her lips curled into a thin smile. "Good. That will make my revenge that much more sweeter..."  
  
"Well, um, wh-what if we've been wrong about his plans?" Pietro's azure eyes darted up and down the street, as if searching nervously for something or someone, as he tried to steer Wanda away from her obvious intention. "I mean- c'mon Wanda, everybody knows that that stuff happened ages ago. Y'know, the 'dark' stuff. That could mean-"  
  
"Who cares what it means?!" Wanda snapped impatiently. "It means he must die, that's what it means!" Eyes suddenly narrowing in suspicion, she looked at her brother. "Who's side are you on, Pietro?" Wanda asked quietly.  
  
Pietro sighed. He had hoped it wouldn't have to come down to this question of loyalty. Magneto, versus Wanda. His father, or his sister. A Father, who all he'd ever wanted his entire life was to please, or a Sister, who he desperately wanted her entire trust and friendship again, and make things go back to the way they were. *Damn it, why couldn't life just have stayed nice and peachy like the way it was when Wanda and I were kids?!* Pietro thought, irritated. *If it had, I wouldn't be stuck in this mess in the first place!* He was glad Wanda didn't turn out to be a telepath, but in a way, he kinda wanted her to be one at the same time. Pietro wanted his sister to know that he *truly* was sorry about what he'd allowed to happen in the past.  
  
"Pietro?" Wanda's voice cut into his thoughts.  
  
"Huh?" Pietro blinked.  
  
"You're hiding something again, aren't you?" A tinge of her old anger was creeping back into Wanda's voice. Pietro gulped.  
  
"Wanda, listen," he began, looking around with a nervous expression on his face. "Magneto's-"  
  
"What about Father?" Wanda demanded. The air around them began to crackle. "Where is-?" But suddenly, she stopped, and her eyes went wide. Professor Xavier's telepathic mental voice blasted through her mind.  
  
~Wanda! We are under attack by Magnus and the Misfit Boys! Come back to the mansion immediately!~  
  
  
  
Duh duh duh dummm...! What will happen next? I'm currently working as fast as I can on Chapter 12. But in the meantime.. R&R!! ^_^ 


	12. Confrontation

Chapter 12:  
  
Pietro didn't like the look in his sister's eyes. He didn't like it at all. It was that all too familiar I'm-going-to-kill-you look all over again.  
  
"Father is *attacking*?!" Wanda snarled, glaring at Pietro. "Is this part of his 'business'?" When Pietro didn't reply, she glowered heatedly at him. "We'll continue this conversation later, Brother," she growled, emphasizing the last word. "Right now, I have to get back to the X-Mansion and kill myself a prize..." Her dark eyes glittered maliciously.  
  
Pietro gulped. "Wanda, listen, it's not how it looks. Well, okay, I can see how you would think that... but it's not!"  
  
"Then what is?" Wanda snapped, crossing her arms. "Pietro, every time you say that, it always ends up being exactly how it looks!"  
  
"Well, this time it's not!" Pietro couldn't help snapping back. More than anything, he wanted to snap, yell, shout, anything to take out his unbearable frustrations out on whoever he was arguing with. That was always what he'd done in the past, whether it be with such people as Duncan and the X-geeks, or whether it was a petty argument with Lance. And he'd always win in the end. Always. He'd make sure of that. But this was Wanda he was dealing with. Pietro took a deep breath, trying to curb his volatile temper. *I can't. I won't. This is Wanda we're talking about here. Not against Wanda... right... BAD idea...* Not to mention his sister probably could and would kick his butt to the next galaxy and back...  
  
"I'll give you one last chance, Pietro," Wanda said in an unnervingly quiet tone, crossing her arms. A tone that clearly meant give-me-the-truth-or-bust-brother-dear-cuz-I-ain't-playing-around. "I want the truth." Her soulful dark eyes glittered. "What is Father up to?"  
  
"I don't know!" Pietro insisted. "He said something about the Misfits being his new dream, and he won't let the Brotherhood destroy them, or something like that." He snorted. "Man, have you even *seen* those guys? They can't do didly squat! Okay, so that one guy likes fire just a llliiittttllee too much, but he's this psychopath who enjoys setting things on fire-"  
  
"Like you don't?" Wanda interrupted with a smirk.  
  
"That's entirely beside the point," Pietro sniffed. "Besides, they're such amateurs! I'm much better than they can ever be any day, and hey! Everybody knows it!"  
  
"Spare me your ego tirade," Wanda groaned, rolling her eyes. "But you still didn't answer my question, Pietro," she glowered at him. "What is Father up to?"  
  
"I already told you! I don't know!" Pietro replied back impatiently. "You think he ever actually tells me anything?"  
  
"Fine, we'll do this the hard way then!" Wanda growled. "I'll be back, Pietro, and when I do, you *better* still be here!" She glowered at him one last time, before turning on her heels and stalking away.  
  
Pietro sighed. "Wanda," he ran off after her. She ignored him. "Wanda!" When she still made no sign at all that she'd heard him, Pietro sped in front of her, cutting sharply in front of her, causing Wanda to stop and glare at him.  
  
"What?" she hissed.  
  
"Um… I- I don't think it's a good idea to go back there," Pietro said nervously. "Nope. Not a bit."  
  
"And why not?" Wanda crossed her arms.  
  
"Well…" Pietro bit his lip. How the hell was he supposed to tell Wanda what Magneto's plans were without blowing the secret of their father's plans? Despite his oftentimes arrogant and uncaring stance, there was one person in the world that he did care for very much…one person that he loved…and currently that person was fixing him with a very cold glare… He sighed. "Hey sis, I- I can't tell you what Father's planning," he said quietly, with a helpless look at his dark haired twin. "But...  
  
"Watch me…" Wanda growled, turning her back on her brother and started to walk away in the direction of the mansion. After a few steps, she stopped and turned around, and fixed Pietro with a cool look. "Because unlike some people, I don't ditch my friends and allies in their times of trouble and need…" With that, Wanda turned and stalked toward the Xavier Institute.  
  
Pietro opened his mouth to protest, then closed it. *What's the point?* he thought, with a scowl. Out of all the things that Quicksilver was known for, stubbornness ranks pretty high on the list. There weren't a whole lot of things that Pietro and Wanda shared as in personality wise, but if there was one thing the Maximoff twins had in common, it was this stubbornness. Wanda didn't have the quality nearly as strongly as her brother, but nevertheless, it was still there. Scowling, and (although he would never admit it) a little hurt, Pietro watched his sister go. A million things raced through his mind. He wanted to go after Wanda, to warn her of the Acolytes' plan, to protect her from their father. He'd give anything to go after her. Pietro watched as his sister's form got smaller and smaller, getting further and further away from him.  
  
*All I have to do is run,* Pietro mused. *All I have to do is run and catch up with her, and tell her that what Father's planning is an all-out attack...* Instead, he just stood there. *Oh, and what am I supposed to say to her? 'Oh, you know, by the way, Father's planning an attack on you guys, and he sent me back here to create a diversion, so er...hope you're okay with it and please don't kill me, Wanda...'?!* He couldn't do that! So, he watched Wanda go, and he let her go. For a split second, something resembling guilt crept into his heart, and for that split second, Pietro Maximoff was starting to have second thoughts about this plan of Magneto's. For the first time, he had his pulling back doubts about the plan. Memories of the good days with the guys came creeping back into Pietro's mind, and he clenched his jaw. This was it....the big battle....but can he really do it? Lance was a good guy... Although Pietro liked to tease him sometimes about his obsession with a certain X-Kittycat, when it really came down to it, out of the guys, Pietro would most readily call Lance his best friend. And he had nothing against the others either. Though Toad and Blob tended to be annoying sometimes, they were still his buddies...brothers...The Brotherhood.....The four of them had shared so much...too many memories...to suddenly be knocked out of the game...by him of all people! And Wanda.... Wanda had just recently joined the team, but was as much part of the Brotherhood as any of them. Pietro's eyes narrowed, as he watched his sister, once-upon-a-time-in-the-not-so-distant-past his best friend, disappear from sight. He sighed, then zipped away by another route in the direction of the mansion. He hated having to do this, but he didn't really have much of a choice....  
  
"If it's the others that you want, Father, it's the others you're gonna get...." Pietro thought as he ran, the wind blowing back against his face. "Just this once...I'll give you Lance and the others just this once....When this plan backfires, which it's sure to do, they'll find ways to escape and get out anyways...." Pietro tried to reassure himself. "I'll give them to you just this once....just don't...hurt...Wanda...."  
  
Of course, his father had already given his promise, but somehow, Pietro wasn't convinced that it was the truth.... With an ever-growing sense of unease nawing away at his gut, Pietro tried to ignore it as best as he could, and sped on. This alternate way to the mansion was much longer than the path that he could've taken, going out of his way to get to his destination, but the more familiar way meant confronting Wanda again, and drawing her suspicion even more...which was something that he did _not_ want....  
  
Pietro was almost at the mansion, when something caught his fleeting side-vision. Screeching to a stop, he did a double take as he saw something that he *definitely* did not want to see....  
  
"Oh shit...." Pietro muttered a curse under his breath, staring in disbelief at the news coverage that was broadcasted on the TV in some store window. Several silvery metallic spheres were shooting through the sky, and the news cameras had managed to capture them on tape.... Very familiar spheres.... *Idiots!* Pietro fumed, panic rising. *Father, what the hell are you playing at?! You're supposed to let me have time to get to the mansion first!*  
  
He sped up, hoping that the battle hadn't started yet.... 


End file.
